Family Ties
by amykay
Summary: Lady Jaye tries to deal with the events that happened in the Sunbow cartoon episode, Skeletons in the Closet.


Author's Note:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I wanted to upload a Christmas one-shot, since it's taking me a bit longer than expected to continue Lovers in a Dangerous Time. My New Year's resolution is to start posting the rest of the story sooner as opposed to later.

This takes place after the events of Skeletons in the Closest, which happens about two years before Lovers. All mistakes in this are of my own doing since I didn't run it past my fabulous beta, Mossley. I not only wanted to get it uploaded in time for Christmas, but I thought it was appropriate to post on the Winter Solstice. Since I wasn't able to get this finished until today, I didn't want to bug her for an ultra fast beta read.

For a pub that was packed full of Joes, it was eerily quiet. Lady Jaye looked around and saw that most were staring at the same view that had held her attention, the burning remains of Castle Destro. She was grateful for the silence. It had given her a chance to try and process all that she had seen and experienced the previous twenty-four hours.

Her revelry was broken by the sounds of Flint's chair scraping against the wooden floor as he stood up. "Joes, it looks like the fire is dying down. I need a handful of guys to come with me to check out the site to make sure none of our snake friends are hanging around."

Lady Jaye reluctantly stood up. She didn't really want to return to the place of so many nightmares, but she figured that since she was the reason the Joes were in this mess, she needed to volunteer. Luckily, Flint gave her the out.

"Not you," he said with a shake of his head. "You're not exactly dressed for combat duty."

Lady Jaye looked down at her tattered nightgown. In all the excitement she had forgotten that she had escaped in nothing more than the poor excuse for the clothes on her back. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she wrapped her arms around her chest.

"Maybe the pub owner can help you find something to put on," Flint said. "And you should have Doc check you out."

Lady Jaye was pretty well battered and bruised, with the majority of her injuries to her feet. In retrospect, wearing slippers to check out the castle had been a mistake. She had long since lost them, and running through the castle and hillside barefoot had left her feet a bloody mess. But since she could still walk, she knew she had no serious injury.

"I will," Lady Jaye promised. "But you should too. We both got banged up pretty good in there."

"I'm fine. I just have a couple of bruises." Flint's hand gently caressed her cheek. "Let me take care of this. Once I'm back, we're going to talk about everything that happened over there."

Lady Jaye nodded and watched the Joes leave. She was not looking forward to that conversation.

Lady Jaye ran her fingers through her wet hair and looked in the mirror. Other than a couple of bruises that she knew were going to get worse before they started looking better, and the bags under her eyes, she looked pretty well for someone who only hours before, had nearly been a sacrifice for an ungodly creature.

She sighed and pushed the thought out of her head. The pub owner, Alastair MacLeod, had not only offered her to pick through some of his wife's clothes, but he had brought her back to his house where she could shower and tend to her cuts and bruises. She knew he was waiting on her, and since it was nearly dawn she figured he was probably looking to finally go to bed.

She exited the bathroom, and found Alastair in his kitchen. He smiled at her as he poured her a cup of coffee. "You look much better, even though the clothes are a tad out of date."

Lady Jaye had learned that Mrs. MacLeod had died nearly fifteen years earlier. It was obvious that even after all those years, he was still mourning her loss. Which was why she felt guilty for taking some of her clothes. She smoothed down the shirt. "Are you sure you're okay with me taking her things? I could just as easily borrow one of your shirts and pants."

Alastair let out a hearty laugh as he rested his hand on his distended stomach. "Don't be silly. I think my clothes might be a wee bit big on you. I should have given her stuff away a long time ago, but I wanted to give them to someone that truly needed them."

"I definitely appreciate it," Lady Jaye said. She took a sip of the coffee. It was bitter, but after the long night she had, it hit the spot. "And thank you for the shower and coffee, it was just what I needed."

He shrugged. "I was raised to lend a helping hand, especially if it's a pretty Scottish lass in need."

Lady Jaye blushed, and thanked him again. But his one descriptor bothered her. She thought back to the portraits that had been hanging in Castle Destro. "What gave you the impression I'm Scottish?"

"Your accent. It's definitely Americanized but I did pick up a hint of the Scottish Brogue."

Lady Jaye nodded. Not only was she multi-lingual but her speech had a tendency to take on the local accents which had always helped her blend in. She wondered though, if that was the case in Scotland or if there was more in play. "I have to admit I probably have more Irish in me than Scottish, but recent developments have made me question that."

Alastair patted her hand. "Look into your past. I guarantee that you have many a Scottish ancestor."

That's exactly what she was afraid of. She looked at the clock and realized that she needed to get back to the pub. She didn't want Flint to return to find her missing. Lady Jaye stood, and thanked Alastair one final time. She then asked for his address so she could return his wife's clothes once she was done with them.

Despite her protests, he walked her back to the pub. Gung-Ho and the other Joes that stayed behind were still there. She told Alastair that she was in good hands, and he left. As she watched him walk out of sight, she smiled as she saw Flint and his team return. She started to run towards them, but the pain in her feet made her stop. Mrs. MacLeod's shoe size was slightly larger than her own, which she was grateful for, because the fabric rubbed at her many cuts.

"All clear," Flint said as he walked towards her.

"Unfortunately though, it looks like your castle is a total loss," Alpine added.

Lady Jaye cringed, while Flint glared at Alpine. "Tell the others we're heading back to the Flagg." As Alpine walked away Flint exhaled sharply. "I really wish these guys could figure out when they need to keep their mouths shut."

"It's okay," Lady Jaye said. "It's prime gossip material. I can't blame them for talking about me."

"No, but I can. Apparently they need a reminder to mind their own business."

A few hours later, the Joes finally made it on to the Flagg. Despite their exhaustion, and their desire to get to their quarters as soon as possible, Admiral Ledger requested a recap of the events in Scotland. Lady Jaye had to give Flint credit. He summed it up quickly, and left out as many of the personal details as possible.

Once it was over, they were mercifully dismissed to the temporary berthing they had been assigned. Lady Jaye knew that many of the sailors had given up their beds to their Joes, and she hoped that it was only going to be a very short-term thing.

She was more than ready to get some shut-eye, so she stood to follow the other Joes and Admiral Ledger out of the room. But she noticed that Flint remained seated, so she waited for the others to leave. Once they were alone, she took the seat next to him. "Flint, you should take advantage of the rack time."

"I will. I just want to make a few notes for my report."

"Okay. Don't take too long, you look awful."

"I know. It's been a rough couple of days."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Lady Jaye mumbled.

Flint put the pen down and looked at her. "Do you want to talk?"

Lady Jaye shook her head. "Not here, not now."

Flint nodded. He looked down at the pad of paper and then grabbed it as he stood up. "How about I walk you to your room?"

They made the trip in silence. Once there, Flint paused as he looked from the door to her. The Flagg was one of many military locations where the two of them made a point of keeping their interactions to a strictly professional level. "This is one of those times that I hate that we have to keep our relationship a secret."

Lady Jaye agreed with him. While being separated for the time being granted her the reprieve from the heart to heart conversation she wasn't ready to have, she still didn't like going to bed alone. Thanks to her ill-fated trip to Scotland it had been a few days since she had slept with Flint and she missed him.

"I feel the same way. Hopefully, though we'll be back at HQ tomorrow."

"That's the current plan," Flint said. Lady Jaye waited for him to leave to go to his own room, but he hesitated. In order to prevent him from making a move that they both would regret, she smiled at him and then walked into her room.

Despite the number of times that she had been a guest on the Flagg, she was still surprised at how small the sleeping rooms were. The one she was assigned was large based on aircraft carrier standards, but she felt like she had barely the room to turn around. She had been told she had her pick of the bunks, so she chose the middle one.

She lay down and waited to drift off into sleep. But it didn't happen. Each time that she started to fall asleep, her mind flashed on an image from Castle Destro that startled herself awake. She knew she needed the rest, but the more she focused on it, the more antsy she became. After an hour she decided to take a walk.

The aircraft carrier was bustling with activity which meant everyone ignored her. She helped the matter by staying out of the way until she found a nook in the back of the ship where she had an isolated view of the ocean.

She knew that if she was going to get any rest, she had to let her mind come to grips with what was bothering her. The bizarre characters, otherworldly moments and general creepiness that she encountered while in the castle had spooked her. But thanks to a couple of years of dealing with Cobra and many of their supernatural elements, she had learned to accept many things that she could not explain. So what was actually gnawing at her was that her apparent ancestral home and Destro's was one and the same.

She settled into her semi-comfortable space and tried to rationally disprove the thought. She didn't know who actually sent her the letter telling her she had inherited the castle, and it was quite possible it was all part of a crazy plan of Cobra Commander's. But she had a bad feeling that wasn't the case. which was why she couldn't settle down. She finally decided that worrying about the what-ifs and ramifications were pointless until she knew for sure. So she soothed her tortured mind by promising to research her family tree as soon as possible.

With that thought, she finally dozed off. She was awoken some time later by the sounds of two men talking, who appeared to be on a work break.

"Is it just me or has this year kicked you in the ass too?"

The second man agreed with them, and the two began to list the various misfortunes they had encountered the past year. As Lady Jaye hovered between sleep and wakefulness she did her own year-end in review.

In addition to the more standard battles with Cobra, she barely survived a disastrous space mission, was almost drowned by a brainwashed Flint, caused the destruction of a civilian's house, then nearly led him to his death when he sought revenge against Cobra, and narrowly escaped the clutches of beings claiming to be Egyptian Gods. Then of course, were the events of the last forty-eight hours where she had come face to face with Destro and his bloodthirsty extended family. And these guys thought they had a tough year.

She continued to listen in as the two men segued from a conversation about the death of one of their elderly grandfathers to the list of the celebrities that had apparently passed away during the previous year. Lady Jaye remembered hearing about a couple of them, but thanks to her hectic schedule with the Joes many of the names she was learning about for the first time.

It made her realize that while she did have a rather difficult twelve months, she and the people she cared most about were still alive. And thanks to the actions of her and the Joes they saved countless number of lives from Cobra. So because of that, she couldn't really consider it a "bad" year.

The two men walked off, and Lady Jaye finally fell into the deep sleep she needed.

Due to a couple of potential international incidents that were luckily averted, the trip back to Headquarters took more than a day and a half. But they finally landed on the airstrip well after dark. At first Lady Jaye wondered about the skeleton crew that met them, but then she remembered that it was a couple of days until Christmas, and most of the Joes were on leave. She felt a twinge of guilt for the Joes that had to change their plans in order to rescue her. She hoped that they still had a chance to salvage the holiday.

They had already gotten word that there wasn't going to be a post mission debrief, so once the landing checklist was completed they were free to go. Flint and Lady Jaye took full advantage, stopping only long enough to figure out which room they were going to spend the night in. They decided on Flint's and headed that way.

Once there, Flint looked at her with concern, and Lady Jaye knew he was once again going to question her about the events at Castle Destro. Instead she went to him, and said, "I never got the chance to thank you for coming after me. If it wasn't for your timely arrival, I probably would have ended up as octopus' food."

"I meant it when I said I was swamped here, and couldn't take the time off. But after you left I regretted the decision. I think Duke got sick of listening to my list of concerns, so he finally told me to check up on you."

Lady Jaye smiled. "Are you saying that I should go knock on Duke's door and give him my thank you for saving my life kiss?"

Flint grinned and pulled her close. "No. I'll take that."

Sleep came quickly but she awoke some time later. She had a nightmare that she had come face to face with the monster in the pit. She must have cried out because Flint wrapped his arms around her and asked if she was okay. "Yeah, it was just a nightmare."

"I'm not surprised after everything you saw in the castle."

"I know, but I'm fine. It's not a big deal."

Flint rolled over so he could look at her. "Don't do that. Remember we promised each other, no tough guy acts."

Lady Jaye couldn't help but smile. She has first yelled at Flint to drop his macho façade after they had encountered the Cobra Fun House. He had gone into super protective mode of her until she final got him to admit that her near death incident had scared him. She admitted that he too had given her a scare. That had led to their first uncomfortable conversation about dealing with the possibility of the other's death.

Since that time there had been many more close calls for both of them. And each time they made a point to not bottle up their feelings. Lady Jaye was convinced that if they hadn't kept the lines of communication open, that each gut wrenching moment would have eventually forced her to end the relationship for the sake of her sanity.

The other positive was that it wasn't just near-death experiences that they turned to each other for support. They had gone to each other whenever they needed a second opinion on a questionable decision, or to talk through an experience that was unbelievable. Lady Jaye knew this was one of those times when the latter was true. But, since it hit on such a personal level, she still hesitated. Until she reminded herself that soon she may confirm her suspected connection to Destro. And if she did, she wanted Flint on her side.

Taking a deep breath she said, "I think I'm related to Destro."

Flint didn't recoil in shock. Instead he calmly replied, "That's the real reason why I followed you to Scotland. I thought the abrupt inheritance was suspicious so I looked into it. Once I learned that Destro was the true owner of the castle, I was afraid you'd run into trouble. I assumed whoever sent you that letter was just looking to lure you into a trap."

"That may very well be the case, but I think someone did find a connection between us and capitalized on it. There were portraits of women who could have been my twin hanging in that castle."

"Maybe that was part of the deception," Flint suggested. "But even if it wasn't and that proves that you and Destro share a relative, what difference does it make?"

Lady Jaye sat up. "You don't see a problem with me being related to one of our mortal terrorist enemies?"

"Al, I have to believe that if you are related it has to be through a very distant ancestor. It's not like he's Uncle Destro to you and you had gotten together for every major holiday in the past."

Lady Jaye mulled over his words for a few moments. "The ironic thing is that ever since my parents died, I wanted to learn more about my past. I had always hoped that I still had some family connection around that I didn't know about. And now I find out that my last living relative is in Cobra."

Flint rubbed her shoulder. "You don't know anything for sure. Before you get all worked up over 'what-ifs' do some research to see if it's even true."

"That's actually how I'm planning on spending the rest of my leave time. I just hope that if I find it to be true, Duke and Hawk are as open-minded as you are."

Flint sat up and looked at the clock. He then turned back to face her. "Alison, I'm sure they will. Your past is just that, in the past. Discovering a shared lineage with Destro is not going to change all that is good about you."

Before she could reply, he leaned over and kissed her. "It's now officially Christmas Eve. I was going to wait until tomorrow to give you your gift, but it sounds like you need cheering up."

Flint climbed out of the bed and walked over to his dresser. He turned on the lamp, opened one of the drawers, and pulled out a small wrapped box. "Alison, I want you to know that I love you. And who you may or may not be related to is not going to change that. I don't care what happened in your past, all I care about is you and I in the present and future."

Lady Jaye opened the box and grinned at the diamond necklace lying on the white cushion. Her grin grew bigger as she realized the meaning of the necklace. "Is this the 'friends and lover' necklace?"

Flint grinned as well. "It is. Every time the commercial came on while I was in the rec room one of Joes would give me a hard time about getting it for you. At first it turned me off to the idea, but the more I watched them, the more I realized it was a perfect way to describe how I feel about you."

Lady Jaye leaned over and kissed Flint deeply. "Those commercials are totally manipulative, but I have to admit I had hoped you would get me this. I love you."

"I love you too. Merry Christmas, Alison."

"Merry Christmas, Dash."


End file.
